Page 32 of Rebel Secrets (Devils Hockey #3)

Chapter Twenty-One

First week of camp

R ebel

“Hey Coach? Um, I, um, I got a problem.”

Day four of camp, and I was pretty pleased with how it was going.

The kids were eager to learn and happy to be here.

Well, except for Baylor Cunningham. He showed up every day ready to train, but he lost focus often, and it’d been a struggle keeping him in line.

He had a comeback to everything, but it was starting to affect the rest of the team.

I hadn’t figured out yet if he was being deliberately disruptive or if there was something else going on.

“What’s up, Cunningham?”

I tried not to let the edge show in my voice. I had plans to corner Erin tonight. I knew she had book club, and I planned to be there. And no, I hadn’t read the damn book, and I didn’t care.

She couldn’t avoid me if there were other people around, and I was tired of waiting for her to come to me.

I knew she was busy, knew she had way too much on her plate, but the ache in the pit of my stomach kept growing.

I wanted to see her. Wanted to spend time with her.

And if some of that time was naked, all the better.

And if she told me she didn’t want to spend time with me, well, at least I’d know for sure. For all that she liked to talk, she’d avoided talking to me for the past week. Even though I saw her every day, there never seemed to be time to discuss what had happened.

But I couldn’t head out until all of the kids had been picked up.

“Um, my dad’s not answering his phone, and my mom can’t get away from work. Do you, uh, do you think I could get a ride to the library. Mom said she’d pick me up there when she’s done.”

The kid had my full attention now. I’d read all the campers’ info before we’d started and, though I hadn’t memorized all the facts, I knew Bay was one of the youngest here.

His bright copper hair and blue eyes set him apart.

So did his skill. The kid could skate, and he was a damn good defenseman.

But I’d noticed his gear was well used, verging on unusable.

I’d already decided to get the kid a couple new sticks and pads, though I’d wanted to talk to his parents first. The problem was, I hadn’t met them yet. He’d gotten a ride with one of the other kids every day.

“What time’s your mom get off from work?”

“Uh, not sure.”

“You want me to drive you home?”

Now the kid flushed bright red. “We live pretty far out. And…” his shoulders lifted and lowered awkwardly. “I don’t like being there alone. I’d rather wait for my mom at the library. I could walk, but I?—”

“Hell, no. You got too much stuff.” A whole list of questions began to tick off in my mind, but I wasn’t going to ask them now.

The kid seemed embarrassed, and I wasn’t going to rub salt in a wound I couldn’t see.

“I’m headed into town for dinner anyway.

Hey, you wanna get some food? I could use the company. ”

His head popped up and his eyes widened. “Really? Yeah, sure. I mean, if you really don’t mind?”

“I don’t. You’d be doing me a favor. I won’t look so pathetic.”

“Thanks, Coach.”

I snagged the kid’s bag off the floor while he grabbed his stick and trailed after me out the door.

Where we found Ian, trying to start his deathtrap of a truck.

He looked ready to start banging his head against the steering wheel until he caught sight of me.

Then his face flamed bright red. Christ, the kid didn’t need to be embarrassed because he couldn’t pay to get his damn car fixed.

I knew now that he was sending money to his sister in college so she didn’t have to work during school.

But it left him short. I made a mental note to increase his salary for helping out at camp so he could fix the damn truck.

I stopped at the driver’s side and bent forward as he rolled down the window.

“Hey, Bay and I are heading into town for some dinner. You wanna come?”

I’d never had to live from one paycheck to the next, but my parents had raised us to believe it wasn’t the amount of money in your bank account that mattered. Only your character mattered. And Ian was one of the best people I knew.

“I can’t get the truck started.”

He looked so fucking frustrated and ashamed that I wanted to buy him a new fucking truck on the spot. But I knew that wasn’t the way to handle the situation. It’s not the way Pop would handle it.

“Lock it up and leave it. We’ll come back tomorrow and get it working or get it towed back to the house so we can take a look at it. Actually, Pop’s pretty good with engines. I’ll call him. He loves to fu—uh, play around with engines. It’s a hobby.”

And if Pop couldn’t fix it, then we’d figure it out.

The relief on his face told me I’d handled it the right way, and after Ian locked up his truck, the three of us headed into town in my truck to get something to eat.

Ian and I had kept up a steady stream of conversation, mostly talking about hockey and Ian’s truck, which apparently held a lot of sentimental value since it came from his granddad.

Which meant I wouldn’t just be able to help him buy a new car.

“So, my dad works on old cars a lot.” Bay had been quiet since we got in the car, which was unusual for him, but he leaned forward to speak from the back seat. “He might be able to help with that.”

“I thought your dad worked at the lumber yard.” I glanced in the rearview to see Bay nod. “Yeah, but cars are his hobby. He likes to fix them up.”

And it probably pulled in extra money, which helped with a daughter in college. There was a local garage and a chain lube-oil business in town, but this was the first I’d heard about another mechanic.

“Sounds good. Ian, you can give him a call tomorrow.”

I glanced over to see Ian doing calculations in his head with his bank account.

“Sure, I can do that.”

But I heard the tone in his voice, and I knew the calculations weren’t in his favor. Shit.

We decided to go to Paolo’s for pizza. Bay had called his mom and told her what was going on. She’d wanted to talk to me, too, apologizing profusely for not being able to get Bay on time. I’d assured her it wasn’t a problem, and we were going to grab some food.

She released a quiet sigh. “Thank you, Rebel. I’ll put some money on his card?—”

“That’s not necessary. But I do have a favor to ask. Bay said your husband works on older model engines, and our assistant coach is having an issue with his truck. Would your husband?—”

“Oh, of course! Daniel was planning to take Bay to camp tomorrow. He could take a look at it then. Daniel loves to tinker, and he hasn’t had a new project lately. He’ll be thrilled.”

I thanked Mrs. Cunningham and handed the phone back to Bay, who looked a hell of a lot happier now. Even Ian’s expression looked a little lighter. And maybe I felt a little pleased with myself for solving the situation.

Dinner with Bay and Ian was the most relaxed I’d been in days. Talking hockey with them eased some of that tight knot in my chest, though not all. The situation with Erin still weighed on my mind.

The way she’d left the arena the other day… My back teeth ground together. I’d wrestled with the way we’d left it the other day, but I wasn’t sure how to fix it. And yeah, I knew I was the one who had the problem.

She’d needed something from me, something more than I’d been willing to give. Hell, I still didn’t know what I wanted.

The only thing I knew for sure was that I wanted her.

We had off-the-chart chemistry. I’d never wanted another woman the way I craved her.

But I hadn’t seen her or heard from her since last week.

I’d met her at the bakery to go over the menus, like she’d asked, but it’d been all business.

We’d talked food since we’d had an audience.

The two women who worked in the bakery for Erin were in and out of the kitchen, along with a few customers who straggled in throughout the entire hour I was there.

There’d been absolutely no time to discuss our situation.

And I’m not sure she would’ve wanted to. I’d pissed her off or upset her, and I didn’t know what to do to make it better. I didn’t know what she wanted.

“Hey, Reb, you finished?”

My attention snapped back, and I gave the server a nod. “Yeah, sorry.”

“Everything okay?” Ian asked, giving me a questioning look.

“Just zoned out for a second.”

“Are you stoked to get back to your team?”

Bay’s wide-eyed look of excitement made me cover a wince. I really had to make up my mind.

“I’m stoked to get back to playing hockey.”

Ian took the ball and ran with it, telling Bay about training camp and meeting new teammates and being excited to see the old ones. Bay asked a few questions, but mainly Ian rambled.

But there was something in Ian’s voice that clued me in to the fact that he had some reservations going on, too. Something we were gonna need to talk about. I was fast coming to the realization that I didn’t want to resign with the Redtails.

Instead of letting Ian twist himself into a pretzel trying to convince himself he was excited to go back, I asked Bay about camp.

Bay had a lot to say about that, all of it and an hour and a half later we stopped only because Bay’s mom hurried through the door, apologized profusely for not being able to pick him up on time and thanking me several times before hustling him out the door, with the promise that her husband would drop Bay off tomorrow morning and take a look at Ian’s truck.

After I paid the bill, telling Ian I was going to write it off as a business expense, I had an idea. Kind of a sneaky one, but still.

“Hey, you mind taking my truck home. I need to talk to Erin about…something.”

Ian’s lips curved before he caught back a true smile. But I could still see it shining in his eyes.

“Sure, but I could just hang around if you want.”

“No. That’s okay. Not sure how long I’ll be.”

Ian’s smile grew, but surprisingly, he didn’t say anything snarky.

“I won’t wait up for you.”